Paris is always a good idea.

So how, exactly, did I get here?

I’d like to say it wasn’t easy, but really, it was. I know that sounds terribly smug. Forgive me, it’s just that I’m still stunned that I get to live here, in (make no mistake) the most beautiful city in the world.

I came here for love and adventure and newness and possibilities. I had lived in Los Angeles my whole life. I lived in the same house for nineteen years before moving out to go to college, only twenty minutes away from home (if there wasn’t any traffic). Then I moved ten more minutes away, closer to the ocean.

Now I’m here, five thousand something miles away, where the great cities of Europe are only a train ride away and the streets smell of fresh baked bread and roasting chicken. I plan to travel and eat and revel in my youth and irresponsibility as long and as intensely as I can bear.